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Poster: snow_and_rain Date: Mar 2, 2012 7:20am
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: In the Strangest of Places, If You Look at It Right (non-Dead)

Honestly, I think that's a pretty mediocre rendition of that song, but it's light years better than any of her original stuff. At least she seemed to be in the right key most of the time.

And I hate to be the curmudgeon here, because I think her heart's probably in the right place, but there's nothing in that article that suggests to me that either she or Kristof have any idea what an anti-bullying agenda/program/movement would look like, what it would do, or how it would change anything. Think the bullies are listening to Lady Gaga? Think again.

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Poster: Judge TOOTMO Date: Mar 2, 2012 11:46am
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: In the Strangest of Places, If You Look at It Right (non-Dead)

"Her upbringing was comfortable and eventually affluent, and she attended the same upscale Manhattan private school as Paris and Nicky Hilton. There is a monumental disconnect between Gaga’s melodramatic self-portrayal as a lonely, rebellious, marginalised artist and the powerful corporate apparatus that bankrolled her makeover and has steamrollered her songs into heavy rotation on radio stations everywhere. "
---Lady Gaga and the death of sex (Published: 12 September 2010)

Do you think it was Paris or Nicky (or both) who stuffed her in the trash can in high school that ignited this deep desire to make the world nicer?

Enjoy,
Judge TOOTMO

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Poster: AltheaRose Date: Mar 2, 2012 6:53pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Gaga, Camille Paglia and Bullying

Yeah, there’s no bullying in private schools. The adolescent country club set is just full of tolerance and acceptance. (I do like that image of Paris, Nicky and Gaga with the trash can, though. LOL!) Funny thing -- the article is by Camille Paglia, of all people. Still touting Madonna after all these years! I’ve thought of Paglia as the S-and-M intellectual gal; basically she’s a kind of bête terrible of feminist discourse, all about describing gender relations in terms of an innate, nature-driven sexual violence between pairs of natural opposites that feminism has, in her view, tried to repress. (Quote: sadomasochism is “a sacred cult, a pagan religion that reveals the dark secrets of nature.”) She just loved Madonna; had a whole bunch of theories back in the day based on how Madonna was bringing back an unashamed celebration of the female essence. Somehow to her Madonna wasn’t also a mix of self-promotion and media/corporate manipulation. Interesting that she now hates Gaga. Yet another reason to like the Monster Mother or whatever she or her marketers call her. (Except that then you’d have to listen to too much of the music.) Paglia's article: http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/public/magazine/article389697.ece Here’s the late great Molly Ivins raking Paglia over the coals. It’s really funny (and even gets a bit into music), for anyone who’s curious: http://web.archive.org/web/20080306071615/http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2007/02/MJ_1991_Sept_Ivins.pdf Anyway, I’ve listened to a bit of Gaga over the last day, and ... well, obviously she’s talented in her way (which includes a genius for self-promotion and adapting and using the corporatization of the 21st century world) ... her music still strikes me as a mashup of Madonna/Abba/Ace of Base with an element that I guess goes back to Queen and glitter rock but with the camp turned up to 11. Or maybe 111. It would be fun to dance to in the right mood. I wouldn’t run screaming from the disco. Not my thing, though. (“Can her band jam?” LOL!!!!!) But speaking out against bullying and for acceptance and tolerance … sure, that’s not a “program” or a "solution," and kids inclined to be bullies/bitches/queen bees are not going to hear it and change, but it’s so important that bullying (in all its forms … not just Bluto using the 90-pound weakling as a punching bag) becomes culturally de-normatized. It is NOT “natural.” I could go on about that, but the fact that it’s common in Western schools at this point in history does not make it “eternal.” Teasing and schoolyard fights and the need to learn to let things roll off your back? Yeah, that's part of life and learning wherever and whenever you grow up. But stigmatizing and rejecting and cliquishness and bullying? No, that’s no more “inevitable” or something to "just get used to" than wife-beating or child abuse. Our culture does, in fact, teach us that it's normal. And that's just wrong. So even if the anti-bullying, pro-tolerance schtick is a kind of self-marketing for her, like wearing a meat dress -- which I'm sure it is (isn't that part of what she's about?) -- it’s a positive thing. That's my rambling two cents. :- )
This post was modified by AltheaRose on 2012-03-03 02:53:17